The Public Television Service (PTS) yesterday began broadcasting three programs to commemorate the late Taiwanese singer-entertainer Frankie Gao (高凌風).
The programs feature a concert in Taipei by the singer, a PTS show in which Gao talked about his life and career, and a PTS recording of his music performances.
The concert was broadcast yesterday and will be broadcast again on Saturday; the interview will be broadcast on Sunday and the music performance today, tomorrow and on Saturday, PTS said.
Photo: CNA
Gao died of leukemia on Monday at the age of 63. He passed away at a hospital in New Taipei City (新北市)with his family at his bedside.
Dubbed the “Frog Prince” (青蛙王子), the singer was known for his flamboyant attire and energetic dance moves in the 1970s and 1980s. His hit songs included Burn, Phoenix, Burn (燃燒吧!火鳥) and Fire in the Winter (冬天裡的一把火).
Gao achieved local fame in the 1970s and became a household name in Taiwan after singing the theme song of the popular film Girlfriend (女朋友).
Gao turned to business in the 1980s at the height of his career, but the club that he opened was later forced to close down after a government crackdown on the sex industry.
He was also the target of a gangster shooting in the 1980s.
The controversial entertainer suffered a low period in his career that picked up again with his appearances on parody shows on TV from 2001, in which he impersonated well-known public figures.
In recent years, his appearances in the media were often related to quarrels with his ex-wife Chin Yu-chuang (金友莊), from whom he had a bitter divorce. Chin was Gao’s third wife.
Gao had been scheduled to hold a concert on March 8 to celebrate 40 years in the entertainment business.
Singer and former legislator Yu Tian (余天), a close friend of Gao, has expressed hope that a memorial concert will take place instead.
“How can someone so cocky be gone?” Yu said tearfully late on Monday night.
Taiwanese comedian Chu Ko Liang (豬哥亮) was also choked up, saying: “I respect him, he was brave... I am really sad,” after learning about the death of his long-time friend.
Chinese actress Zhao Wei (趙薇) and Taiwanese actress and TV hostess Lily Tien (田麗) were also among the celebrities who took to the Internet to mourn the death of the entertainer.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS